Playing Hero
by Kitten1313
Summary: Deep down he never wanted to be one, a real superhero anyway. No for Alfred it was easier to lock himself away in video games than face a world that hated him. But then Abel won't take no for an answer, after all not all heroes are perfect. (Superhero AU)
1. Prologue

**"** **I think that we all do heroic things, but hero is not a noun, it's a verb."**

Death is supposed to be the end, I mean that's what I've always heard about it anyway. That when it's all over that's it and you don't have anything really to look forward to after but the feeling of having done something with your life, that you had lived. So then, what would I feel? Did I really do anything that amazing in my short ass life and then if I did what would I be listed under by the reaper? A hero, a villain or something in between...really I think I'd fall under both since I never claimed to be either and lord knows many saw both sides of me. Many times Abel told me that we're the heroes in our own stories, even if it means we're the villains in others. Sure it was to make me feel better but, yeah it didn't really help much. Matthew would always say I was a hero, even Peter would smile up at me with a look of pure awe. I was a hero in their eyes sure but too many others, well they'd probably claim I was nothing but a waste of space on the team.

It would explain why I feel so empty inside. But I guess I should start at the beginning of it all if I want to make any sense. Before I was left alone bleeding in the streets after the final epic battle, which we lost by the way, causing the whole fucking world to be sent to hell in a damn handbasket. Back when I wasn't some two bit superhero crawling my way up the social ladder of crime fighters. To before I met Abel...when the only thing I was doing was just trying to live my life, wow it seems so long ago but it's only been two years since those days.

I got time to tell you it now, I really have nothing better to do until death comes and pulls my broken ass up off the pavement. So well guess I'll start with my name. My hero name was 8bit, yeah a dumb name but that's the press for you. Really my god given name was Alfred Jones and I controlled electricity or really...it controlled me.


	2. Pac Man

My life wasn't normal; then again what the fuck is normal anyway? My brother could control his powers from the beginning, light and auras were his specialty. He could make the Aurora borealis appear in our bedroom at night then make himself disappear in the early morning hours at the flick of his wrist. He was soft spoken but then that was because he could read people's energy like a book. Why talk when their own bodies would give them away? Least that's what he would say to me. I'm not afraid to admit that for a long time I envied him and the powers he had because while he could hide his with no problem every electronic in twenty feet of me could blow at any moment if I wasn't careful.

Upset, angry, excited, or sick? Something was going to blow and I would hear my name screamed. Really I know that's why my Dad never stayed around. Two freaks were enough let alone one unable to get his shit together, though the last straw for him didn't come until I was sixteen.

I was bored that rainy day and since Mattie was busy I went down to the arcade. The place was ancient but it could still get a crowd on a Saturday night. But on this day it was pretty much dead with the only other person around seemed to have been passed out on the Polybius machine near the entrance. I didn't care, assuming he was just high so I took my quarters to the Mr. Pac Man game that was sitting in the far corner. It was old school but to me it was still pretty awesome. So I carefully started to play, really I could have cheated to get the high score. It would have been child's play to hack the machine's data and make it say Alfred at the every line of the score board but I was trying to be honest.

The game had a special place in my heart like many others that would come after so I would earn my place. I was getting pretty high up there when fate decided it had other plans.

"Hey fucktard."

I tried not to flinch, instead pressing the buttons harder as I saw his face reflect on the screen. Out of all the arcades in the whole town the asshole had to walk into mine. His black hair was matted down from the rain and his blue eyes were looking cleanly at me, almost begging me to say something.

"Didn't you hear me?" He said in a whiny tone as he took my sleeve. "Huh shit head?"

My eyes narrowed and I could see in my reflection that my eyes were glowing a dark blue. "Go away." I answered sharply as I tried my best to control the power that wanted to break free. "Leave me alone."

He grabbed my shoulder and whipped me around so fast my head was spinning. "Why don't you make me, Sparky."

Oh that lopsided grin of his was enough to send me over the edge. I should have walked away, I should have been the bigger man but when my fist hit him square in the jaw I knew it wasn't going to happen. But damn it, he deserved it and it felt so good. "Oh go fuck yourself!" I yelled as I took a step forward, sparks jumping from my fingertips. After years of taking shit from him and his minions I finally had a chance to stand up for myself. It was only me and him and in a fair fight I at least stood a chance. "Or why don't you go fuck-"

I didn't have a chance to finish as he lunged at me, knocking me down and started to beat my face into the carpet with a fury I wasn't expecting. "Fuck who dipshit?" He growled out as he slammed my face down. "Huh? Answer the question!"

I had never seen him so enraged and never did I imagine he would be as strong as he was, in fact it felt almost inhuman. I knew if I didn't do something fast he would have killed me too so I shoved my hand in his face and let lose a bolt of electricity that would have put a lightning storm to shame. It sent him flying backwards but to my surprise it didn't kill him, fuck it barely looked like he was fazed. "Oh you wanna play Pork Chop?" He said, licking his lips as blood poured from his nose. "Cause I'm not done beating your pretty little face in."

I was dizzy but I jumped back to my feet. I could feel the electricity hanging heavily in the air then and I knew it was going to happen whether I wanted it to or not. So I took a step back, bumping into the Pac Man machine as I did. "Stop!" I screamed out as he took a step towards me with murder in his eyes. It was going to happen, every inch of my mind was scrambling to force it back, to stop but in the end my mind switched on me. It couldn't stop what was about to happen so it decided to save me instead. My body dissolved into the machine behind me just as the current in the air erupted.

Every machine in the arcade exploded like massive bomb with enough power to wipe the building clean off of the map. Nothing was left except for the Pac Man machine and me hiding safely in its data stream. I stayed in there hugging Pinky until I knew the coast was clear than I pulled myself away from the game. Once I was five feet away the machine collapsed into rubble but I didn't stick around to mourn the loss of the game that saved me.

I had to get out of there fast and after a few hours I was able to make it home sometime around midnight. The house was dark and the back door was locked but thankfully for me my mother always left the basement door unlocked. I stumbled in, trying my hardest not to wake anyone but as I opened the door leading to the kitchen a blinding light met me. "Gas leak my ass." He growled with a look of disdain on his face. "You blew it up."

"I didn't mean to." I answered weakly, my head was pounding, my legs were shaking and all I wanted to do was curl up into my bed and forget the whole thing happened. In my mind I had killed at least one person and I didn't know what had happened to the other man passed out on the other end of the arcade. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" His voice was booming. "No you were sorry when you destroyed all my electronics, you were sorry when you knocked out the power grid every time you cried. You were sorry when you made your mother's heart stop when she gave birth to you! No! I should have known then you'd be nothing but a monster then but your mother always came to your defense well no more. Get out!"

I stood there like a lost wet puppy. "Dad..."

"Get out!" At that moment my mother walked in, took one look at my face and burst into tears. "Now!" He yelled again.

I had no choice so I limped out and hid in the shed until dawn broke the next morning. My face was caked in dried blood and tears and I was sure my nose was broken in more than a few places. "Alfred?" I heard in a gentle voice. "Let me clean you up."

It was clear she had been up all night crying too by the look of her red puffy eyes. "Mom...I didn't mean to do it." I managed as she started to gingerly wipe my face. "Please can I come home?"

"You're father's mind is made up." She answered with a sad sigh. "You could have hurt a lot of people this time." I couldn't say anything, but just hung my head. "So you're going to live with your uncle..."

"I killed someone Mom." I finally said looking her in the eye.

She sucked in a breath before answering. "No you didn't. There was no one there. In fact it was closed when you...had your little incident."

I shook my head. "Mom,"

"Alfred." Her voice was low, almost threatening. "There was no one in there. Now your father went to work so come in, gather your things and wait for your uncle."

What she was hiding from me I'll never know but, there was something in her eyes that scared me and deep down I know whatever it was scared her too.


	3. Happy Birthday to me

My Uncle was an eccentric man to say the least, not that I cared. He took me in, though for the first few weeks I lived there I never left my room. Unless of course I was starving and even then it wasn't until I was positive he was asleep. I was sure he was going to be like my father and see me as just the freak that Mom begged for him to look after.

So I didn't bother with him and for the most part he took no interest in me. We were two strangers living in a shared space. Aside from a rare hello, no words were said between us. That changed though a month or so later. It was my birthday but, like every other day I hid until around eleven when I felt it was safe to leave my room. I was starving and as quiet as I could be, snuck down to the kitchen to grab something quick from the refrigerator. He always kept soda on one side of the fridge and beer on the other, with a plate of what ever left over he made for dinner in the middle.

Normally it would have been dark with only a small rocket shaped night light giving the large room any kind of light. Yet that night there on the table was this little round cake with seventeen candles shining brightly. I didn't even turn on the light as I stared in awe at the blue iced cake with little green men dancing around it until I heard a voice behind me. "So you gonna make a wish or are yah gonna stare at it like it's a motherfucking lava lamp?" My uncle said as he turned on the lights.

I jumped a few feet in the air as I spun around to meet his gentle grey eyes. "Sorry uh...thanks for the cake." I muttered unsure what else I was suppose to say as I looked him over. It was the first time I noticed how much shorter he was compared to me and his hair matched his hair color.

"Fuck kid it was nothing but, like I said you just gonna stare at it?"

I shook my head as a wide grin appeared on his old face. He was so proud of his little edible creation that I swear he had the giddy of a five year old showing off his first sand castle. So, knowing I couldn't break his heart, not that I wanted to anyway I blew out the candles as he slapped my back. "Happy Birthday, kid."

"Thanks..." I gave a weak smile but even I had to let out a loud laugh when I cut it open. "It's fucking green."

"Radioactive green." He corrected in a matter of fact way. "It's made the best kind of heroes after all and the most demented creatures hell bend on the destruction of Earth that man kind's ever known." I blinked looking for any signs that he was kidding only to find none that was until he continued. "What? Fuck boy you've never heard of sarcasm?" I watched as the deep wrinkles in the corner of his eyes softened while he chuckled. "You take life to fucking serious, probably got that shit from that sperm donor. Anyway boy, eat your cake and have a good night."

It was a strange comment but I ignored it. "You're not gonna have, you know a piece? It's a bit too big for me to eat alone." Sure I had spent the month alone in my room hiding from the whole fucking world but, it was an opening to spend time with someone else.

My uncle shook his head as he walked to the doorway. "Sorry boy I have a long ass day tomorrow, then again you do too." He stopped looking over his shoulder at me. "You're going to start doing your motherfucking school work and your ass has a moth of work to catch up on." His eyes narrowed. "Cause if you thought you'd just come here and not do a god damn thing you were mistaken."

I only knew one other person that swore as much as he did and I wondered if my mother knew beforehand what she was getting me into. Or what her brother thought of my father, if she did I doubt she would have sent me but then again I'll never know.

"I've been doing it." I lied. "So do you talk to Grandma like this or am I special?"

He looked me up and down. "One, no you haven't and two who the fuck do you think taught me to speak?" I wasn't sure if he was joking but I didn't have another chance to ask as he turned back around. "Goodnight." With that he was gone and I was left alone in the kitchen with my cake and what I would find a few minutes later...my birthday present.

He wasn't perfect but, as I sat down at the table with my 'radioactive' cake and new game I knew he cared more in that moment than my father did in seventeen years.

"Happy birthday Mattie.'" I whispered looking out the window to see something that made my heart swell. There above me was the Northern lights dancing in the clear night sky, it was miles wide and were my favorite colors. Knowing it was my brother I opened the screen door and snapped my fingers sending a spark skywards, it exploded into a blue bolt of energy that scattered off into a dozen directions. I knew he would eventually see it and know I was thinking of him too, wishing him a happy birthday no matter how many miles where between us.

It was an amazing sight to see both lighting up the sky, mixing into one spectacular sight that melted into an image of a dying star. That was until I over loaded the state electric grid and everything went dark for the next week. Uncle Toni probably would to kill me , if he wasn't laughing so much.


	4. 3 am

It wasn't easy, the again really what is? He had a patience my father never showed but I still felt this overwhelming fear, perhaps it was? A fear that one day I would repeat what I had down in that arcade. That I would watch the world around me explode into a chaotic mess, and know it would be my fault that I had killed innocent people. I won't lie and say I never thought of making it easy and just doing away with it all. No mess, no fuss and most importantly no god damn explosion.

As many times as I thought about it I couldn't push myself to actually do it. While I wanted to the thought of my mom receiving that fucking call at three in the morning made my stomach sick. I couldn't hurt her like that.

Even in those dark hours as my demons took hold I wondered why three am? Why couldn't they come at noon when the world was awake and I could fight them away easily? Instead they always appeared in the early morning, never leaving until the sun is threatening to rise.

Normally I would sneak into the living room to watch the sun rise, waiting for my demons to flee back into the back of my mind. But one night as I was looking out the bay window I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. "You must be a fucking bat, boy."

With a weak smile I nodded, I was able to hide my surprise easily but it wasn't like him to be up so early. "Yeah guess I am but what are you doing up?"

At that he chuckled taking the seat next to me. "My house ain't it?' Again I nodded but he wasn't looking. Instead he took out an old cigar and lite it. "Yah know your Mom's sure one of these are gonna kill me one of these days. Knowing her, she's right." He inhaled slowly before releasing the grey thick smoke into the air. "She could always see things."

"See things?" I turned to watch him for a moment unsure what he was saying. Sure she had a good intuition but I doubted it was more than that.

It was odd but he flicked the ash onto the floor, not caring to use the ash tray across from him. "Yeah past, present, future. She got pretty damn good at it." After a moment he took the ashtray and smashed what was left of the cigar into it. "Funny she couldn't see what was in front of her own face."

A chill ran down my spine. "What are you talking about?" Only then could I smell the whiskey on his breath.

"I just got a call..."

Suddenly the world stopped, he had to have been lying or that it was just a dream he had. "No."

He turned to me; his eyes were puffy and blood red, his face gaunt as a ghost. "She's gone."

It didn't connect. I didn't want to see it, to get what he was saying. It was a dream, he was just drinking too much and got it wrong. My mother would be still safe in bed. "No she's not." I stood shouting with a sudden anger. "You're just fucking drunk. I didn't hear the phone so she's,"

"Stop." He said with a sigh pulling out another cigar but I ripped it from his hand and threw it.

"She's fine! I'll call her before I go to bed and she'll be just," Again he interrupted me.

"She's dead boy." He said in a stern voice as he stood, seeming to tower over me and for a moment I was sure he was going to hit me. Really I would have taken it, understood but instead he hugged me so tightly I felt like he was about to break me in two. "She's gone Alfred. I'm sorry." He trailed off as his voice cracked. He was on the verge of tears while I stood there, the anger replaced with a numbing feeling.

Then very slowly I wrapped my arms around his shaking body while I buried my face in his shoulder. The sun started to rise but neither of us moved until long after the sun was high in the sky.

He told me that she died in her sleep, peacefully. Though I'm sure he lied for my sake. But I let myself believe it but I felt a new fear. She was my reason not to end my life now with her gone what was to stop my demons?

I found my answer when my Uncle dropped off a game console and a stack of games along with it soon after her funeral. He thought I would play them to distract myself, what he wasn't ready for was what I would actually do with them. Worlds meant for a distraction, where I could lose myself. I could become a hero my Mom was sure I would be.

It's where he would find me...


End file.
